Publishing house criticises ban of Into The River

Into The River by Ted Dawe. Photo / Bevan Conley

A major publishing house has criticised a decision to ban a controversial young adult's book.

Last week the president of the Film and Literature Board of Review put an interim restriction on Ted Dawe's award-winning young adult novel Into The River - the first such ban in New Zealand.

That means it is banned from sale until after the review board meets to decide on its classification in October and in the meantime, it was illegal to even supply the book to a friend.

In a statement released today, publishers of Mr Dawe's book, Penguin Random House New Zealand, expressed its disappointment over the ban.

"Into the River was chosen as the 2013 New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year by a respected panel of judges," it said.

"The book deals with difficult issues such as bullying and racism, which are topics adolescents should be able to read about as they may well experience these issues in their own lives.

"Penguin Random House believes that young people benefit from having access to coming of age books that help them to understand the complex society in which they live."

Penguin has a history of standing up to censorship. In 1960 Penguin Books was taken to a British court after publishing an un-censored version of D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover.

However, the publishing house managed to convince the court the book was a work of "literary merit" under the Obscene Publications Act 1959, and it was later allowed to be published.

Speaking earlier this week, Dawe said he was "blindsided" by the ban, which was prompted by Christian lobby group Family First after the Censor's Office removed a previous R14 restriction on the book on August 14, making it totally unrestricted.

"It's extraordinary," Dawe said. "I've had quite a few emails from people who share that sense of outrage. Do we live in a country where books get banned? I'll get burnt next."

It was not easy to write a book that teenagers would want to read, or to get it published, he said.

"People involved with teaching boys, especially English teachers, know how important books like this are because they speak to boys about the things that other boys' books don't have the firepower or the vitality to do effectively," he said.

"The book was never about sex and drugs, it was always about bullying people and how that damages people for the rest of their lives. That is really the underlying theme, everything else is just the trappings that go along with that."

The NZ Booksellers Association has placed a notice on its website warning bookshops that they face fines of up to $3000 for an individual or $10,000 for a business if they supply the book.